Oil and gas companies lead an early decline in stocks

Associated Press

Published 4:21 am, Monday, February 1, 2016

Photo: Richard Drew

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In this Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, photo, the American flag flies above the Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. U.S. stocks are wavering between small gains and losses Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, following a sharp sell-off the day before. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) less

In this Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, photo, the American flag flies above the Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. U.S. stocks are wavering between small gains and losses Thursday, Jan. ... more

Photo: Richard Drew

Oil and gas companies lead an early decline in stocks

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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks were solidly lower in early trading Monday, as the price of oil took another tumble amid renewed concerns about the Chinese and U.S. economies.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 96 points, or 0.6 percent, to 16,369 as of 10:13 a.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 11 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,928 and the Nasdaq composite lost 24 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,589.

OIL PROBLEMS: Crude oil went lower again after posting solid gains last week. Oil fell $1.22 to $32.37 a barrel. Natural gas took an even steeper tumble, falling more than 6 percent.

CHINA MANUFACTURING: Global stocks and oil prices started to decline after a Chinese factory purchasing manager survey fell to 49.4 in January, the lowest level in more than three years. It's the latest sign of weakness for the world's second-largest economy. Numbers below 50 indicate contraction. Chinese stocks closed down 2 percent on the news.

THE QUOTE: "There are precious few indicators that point to a recovery within China and this continues to spell bad news for the global economy which has been hugely reliant upon Chinese demand to help compensate for weak western demand post-2007," said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.

FACTORY WORRIES: The economic data out of the U.S. did not help investor sentiment either. A survey of manufacturing activity in the U.S. came in at 48.2, below economists' analysts.

BONDS, CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.95 percent. The dollar fell to 120.92 yen from 121.10 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.0897 from $1.0829.